ToxicCapitalism

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Burn, Baby, Burn

Fundamentals

For theoretically optimal capitalism, you need laboratory conditions, like perfect information, perfect competition, and perfect mobility.

All Markets are Regulated Markets

  • "Would it be fair to..."
  • "Fair Trade is..."
  • "Taking from [class I care about] would be unfair..."

What does "Fair" mean? It is, I think, an appeal to notions of inherent balance between equals. Timmy and Johnny have a candy bar. Timmy splits it in half, Johnny picks which half he gets. That's using an adversarial system to approximate fairness between two equal parties in trade.

Capitalism is an attempt to approximate that in a vastly more complicated system. But the moment that property rights get more complicated than equal share ownership of a candy bar, the approximation becomes a matter of choosing priorities. As an extreme example, intellectual property rights create entirely artificial market forces to promote the progress of science and the useful arts. But anything that involves complex regulation, such as taxes, is necessarily a regulated market and "fair" is about what we want to create, not an objectively measurable thing.

US Generational Link?

https://old.reddit.com/r/australian/comments/1azi0oi/very_accurate/

Generational-children.jpg

Looking at the meme on the right, I was struck by this question:

Is the current generation's antipathy toward the boomers based on the behavior of the boomers, of their own volition, or are the behavior of the boomers and the economy in which the current generation is living simply symptoms of toxic capitalism?

[ed: as I'm writing it out, it seems quite obvious, but I've been looking at this problem a lot and it hadn't crystalized like this for me prior to now]

The Boomers genuinely had opportunity to lift themselves by their bootstraps, did so, and have reason to believe that their hard work and personal development were both worthwhile and reasonable. They look at the current generation and expect them to do the same, without recognizing that the current generation is not living in the same context.

The Boomers apply their world view - that success is the product of hard work - and reasonably so, because in their time it was.

... the first comment in the Reddit discussion makes this exact point. Maybe it is obvious.

Late Stage Links

Buyer Beware

Grindset

Decommerce

Fetishizing Corporations

Fetishizing The Wealthy

Avarice Engineering

Stolen Car

A couple's car gets stolen. They post to Reddit with the headline, "Car was recently stolen out of our driveway and we realized it twenty minutes before work started on a Monday." Really? That's the headline when your car gets stolen; that you might be late for work. Have you so deeply foregone your personal identity in favor of your employer that you care more about how your car getting stolen affects them than how it affects you? Or are you worried that you'll get negative points at work for having the temerity to have your car stolen? Either one of those is profoundly disturbed. And not a single comment in the Reddit thread picked up on it. Because it's not weird to us, Americans. That is a normal way to think.

Let me be clear: I'm not sledging the people for thinking that way. I'm saying our society is profoundly disturbing if we think of the minimal impact to our employers is the headline when a person's car gets stolen. That is a severely toxic relationship.

Copyright

Reflection 1

Copyright extremism has been steadily marching forward, Weird Al offers this recommendation:

https://www.reddit.com/r/TwoBestFriendsPlay/comments/ynbu3v/weird_al_yankovic_on_how_international_fans_can/

Original copyright was 7 years, plus 7 additional years if you re-upped. After that, the deal was that things entered the public domain. There is a public interest in being able to reflect upon the zeitgeist without limitation after its initial pop revenue stream has been harvested.

Now copyright is life of the author + 125 years with extreme laws limiting you even from making your own copies of material you have purchased. Nothing new has entered the public domain since Mickey Mouse's first cartoon.

Copyright, like capitalism and socialism, is a fine economic mechanism in itself. But it becomes toxic when a subset of stakeholders engage in regulatory capture.

Current extremist copyright does more harm than good and should be attacked at every opportunity. Anchors aweigh and hoist the Jolly Roger - pirate that shit.

And while I have no specific recommendations, since I have simply eschewed corporate media rather than consuming it properly - which is to say illegally but rightly - I would recommend this as a starting point:

https://old.reddit.com/r/Piracy/

Reflection 2

"But after 14 years (7 + 7), it is still possible for a Taylor Swift album to generate billions in revenue."

That is true, but why is that the measure of whether it should remain under copyright? Possible reasons:

  1. Because society will be better if we increase the amount of reward given to copyrighted works producers, at the expense of copyrighted works consumers and derivative works creators.
  2. Because increased cashflow is always good.
  3. Because the fact that people are willing to pay for it necessarily implies that it should be gated and access to it should have a toll.

Price Theory: Supply & Demand

The fundamental nature of an efficient market price is that the intersection of the supply curve and the demand curve results in a (somewhat, depending on the associated elasticities) balance of value to each side. The triangle between the demand curve and the market price is the benefit accrued to the buyers. The triangle between the supply curve and the market price is the the benefit accrued to the supplier.

Market segmentation, such as the Balkanization of streaming, is a way for suppliers to "beat" the market price phenomenon. They effectively slice up the market to the left of the intersection and turn the integrate the price more closely to the demand curve in a series of steps.

The result is more wealth flowing to capital owners and less to consumers.

Question: What are some demand side equivalents? How can we stimulate them when market segmentation becomes harmful to the benevolence of capitalism?

Laissez-Faire Lying

Black Friday Sale Pricing: https://old.reddit.com/r/TikTokCringe/comments/183vyyd/im_no_consumer_rights_lawyer_but_this_seems/

There is a justification I occasionally hear from laissez-faire capitalists, about various questions of anti-social behavior by corporations, that would be applied to this example like this:

If the same product is available for the same price, and the only change is lying to the customer, and the customer purchases more units, it indicates increased customer satisfaction. The market is saying, "We prefer to be lied to." And the distributor is satisfying the demand.

Generalized: "If something we do increases profit, it must mean it is good."

It's the laissez-faire capitalist version of, "The Lord works in mysterious ways." It's a hand-waving that means, "We don't have to have independent metrics of societal value to validate doctrinal law."

Slouching Into Dystopia

Game Awards

Imagine if the Oscars were mostly teasers for upcoming movies. "Some fans expressed dissatisfaction with the format of The Game Awards, criticizing the lack of time given to winners to make speeches and the focus on trailers and ads. They suggested that the event should be more structured and give more emphasis to the winners." 

{
  "title": "Larian Studios at The Game Awards: A Discussion",
  "intro": "The appearance of Larian Studios, the team behind the popular game Baldur's Gate 3, at The Game Awards sparked a lively discussion among fans. The team's eclectic attire, including armor and bear costumes, and the presence of key team members were the main points of interest.",
  "conversation_highlights": [
    {
      "heading": "Identifying the Team",
      "text": "Fans attempted to identify the team members present in the photo. Among those recognized were Swen Vincke, the founder of Larian Studios, known for his armor; Borislav Slavov, the music composer and director, holding a sign with his name; Adam Smith, the lead writer, and Chrystal Ding, another lead writer, both in bear costumes; and Alena Dubrovina, the lead character artist. Some fans also speculated that the woman in black could be Neil Newbon's wife."
    },
    {
      "heading": "The Bear Costumes",
      "text": "The bear costumes worn by the writers sparked curiosity and amusement. Some fans suggested they might be a reference to a bear sex scene in the game that gained significant attention pre-release, while others thought it could be a reference to the character Boo."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Critique of The Game Awards",
      "text": "Some fans expressed dissatisfaction with the format of The Game Awards, criticizing the lack of time given to winners to make speeches and the focus on trailers and ads. They suggested that the event should be more structured and give more emphasis to the winners."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Appreciation for Larian Studios",
      "text": "Despite the critiques of the event, there was a clear appreciation for Larian Studios among the fans. They praised the team's creativity and dedication, with one fan calling Baldur's Gate 3 the best game they've ever played. The team's unique attire was also a hit, with fans expressing their desire to work in a company where they could wear armor or bear costumes."
    }
  ],
  "closing": "Overall, the discussion highlighted fans' admiration for Larian Studios and their work, as well as their desire for a more winner-focused format for The Game Awards.",
  "reddit_url": "https://old.reddit.com/r/BaldursGate3/comments/18e07zl",
  "subreddit": "BaldursGate3",
  "link_id": "18e07zl"
}

Apple v. Android

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